Madonna of the manor

She already has the Barbour jacket and a husband with strong links to the landed aristocracy.

Now Madonna has a £9 million rural retreat to complete her latest image makeover from global pop star to English lady of the manor.

Husband Guy Ritchie's love of country pursuits has encouraged her to take an interest in hunting and she has taken clay pigeon shooting lessons.

Those new sporting passions can now be indulged in style, the Daily Mail can reveal, in the 1,000-acre grounds of Ashcombe House, near Cranborne Chase on the Wiltshire-Dorset border.

It is said to be one of Britain's finest sporting estates, yielding more than 6,000 partridge and 7,000 pheasant last year.

The couple, who have viewed the house several times in recent months, are understood to have finally agreed a price.

The six-bedroom house is the former home of royal photographer Sir Cecil Beaton.

Estate agent FPDSavills said of the Georgian manor house: 'It is a fine property with views down the valley and is in an excellent decorative state.'

It will provide an ideal family home for the couple, Madonna's four-year-old daughter Lourdes and their one-year-old son Rocco.

There are rumours that the star is considering quitting the music business. If so, Ashcombe may prove more than just a weekend retreat.

The couple's new neighbours will include Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, who were responsible for introducing them at their home.

Both had been closely involved in Ritchie's directorial debut, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels. Sting played a Cockney bar owner, while his wife was an executive producer of the film.

Somewhat to the surprise of her fans, Madonna, 43, has enjoyed joining her husband on his sporting trips and has been pictured alongside him in country tweeds.

The couple, who married at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands last December, have bought the estate from retired businessman David Parkes.

Sir Cecil, who lived at Ashcombe in the 1930s and 1940s, entertained the cream of London society there.

Early in his movie career, 32-yearold-Ritchie tried to cultivate an image of a tough working-class lad with criminal connections and hinted at a poverty-stricken misspent youth in the East End, similar to that of many of the characters in his films.

However, his family tree shows he is related to Sir Winston Churchill, the Duchess of York and the late Princess of Wales.

His grandfather was an army officer who was decorated in World War I and died in World War II. His father, John, was an officer in the Seaforth Highlanders and later became a successful advertising executive.

Ritchie's parents are divorced. His mother, Amber, a former model, later married a baronet, Sir Michael Leighton, on whose Loton Park estate near Shrewsbury, he spent part of his childhood, learning country pursuits.

A source at FPDSavills said last night: 'We have sold the property. But I cannot confirm or deny any name or the identity of the purchaser. We never divulge names to protect clients' confidentiality and privacy'.

He added: 'The only thing I can say is that it has been sold to an overseas leisure company.'